Brake-beam fulcrum and method of producing same



C E. BAUER.

BRAKE BEAM FULCE'UM AND METHOD OF PRODUCING SAME.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 16, 1920.

1,402,392, Patented Jan;3,1922@ 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

1,%@2,3920 v Patented Jan. 3, 1922,

C. E. BAUER.

BRAKE BEAM FULCRUM AND METHOD OF PRODUCING SAME. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 16, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' To all whom it may concern wire as.

New Fence.

CARL E. BAUER, 0F HAMMOND, INDIANA BRAKE-BEAM FULCRUM AND METHOD PRODUCING- SAME.

Be itknown that I, CARL E. BAUER, acitizen of the United States, and resident of Hammond, in the county ofLake and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Brake-Beam Fulcrum and Method of Producin the Same. of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to brake beam 'ful- .crums and particularly to a novel method of forging or forming such fulcrums.

It will be understood thata fulcrum or strut is employed in the construction of brake beams the device serving, as its name implies, as a fulcrum for the brake lever, and, intrussed beams, as a strut for separating the compression and tension members.

' It is to the type last referred to that this improvement particularly relates. It is common to employ fulcrums composed ofra bar doubled upon itself and provided With lateral projections or feet at the free ends of the bar and with a saddle at the opposite end, the saddle serving as a seat for the tension rod, the feet being secured by riveting to the channel of the compression memher. It is to the formation of the saddleor which,

seat in the bar that this invention particularly relates.

An object in the present invention is to simplify the formation of this saddle, increase its strength and lessen the cost and number of operations necessary to produce it. The fulcrum is formed by two major die operations in the first of which a plain rectangular bar is pressed at a point intermediate its ends and thereby flared; in the second, the seat or saddle is formed after the bar has been doubled upon itself on the line of the flattened portion. In these operations the cross sectional area of the bar .remains substantially constant; in other words, in the flattening operation the bar is merely deflected laterally and is not elongated. In this way a saddle of great strength is provided and one in which the area of contact with the tension rod is considerable.

The novel fulcrum and the method of forming it will be better understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in

Figs. land 2 are plan and side views respectively of a bar or blank such as I employ;

F gs. 3 and 4 are plan 111d side views respectively of the blank after the first die operation;

Figs. 5 and 6 are plan and side views respectively of the die within which the operation of flattening illustrated in Figs. 3 and 41 is carried out Figs. 7 and 8' are end and side views respectively of the fulcrum after it has been doubled upon itself;

Figs. 9 and 10 are similar views showing the fulcrum after the third operation thereon;

Figs. 11 and 12 are plan and side views of the dies within'which the operation of forming the seat is carried out;

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of thefulcrum in its completed form;

Figs. '14: and 15 are end and side views respectively of the same fulcrum in which the seat is formed at right angles to the normal plane of the bar, and,

Figsx-lfi and 17 are similar views in which a flat instead of a round tension rod is employed.

In the drawings it will-be seen that the fulcrum comprises two arms 20, 21, having lateral projections or feet 22, 23, which serve as the means of attachment of the fulcrum to the compression member of a beam. A.

Figs. 1 and 2. This bar is placed in a die 25, shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and the ends of the bar may be suitably confined. A complementary die member 26, is then forced down agalnst the bar and it is flattened or laterally expanded as at 27, in Figs. 3 and 5. This, as shown in Fig. 4, effects a decrease in the thickness of the bar but the cross sectional area of the bar remains substantially constant throughout.

In the next operation the blank is doubled upon itself, as best shown in Figs. 7 and 8, and this may be carried out in any common bending machine. This results in the formation of a straight, wide center portion 28, as best-shown in Fig. 8. In the next operation, the thus-formed blank is placed upon'adie 29, shaped as best shown in Figs. 11 and 12, and a complementary die 30, is forced into engagement therewith. The angular position of the die 30, which position Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Jan, 3; 1922, Application filed September 16, 1920. Serial No. 410,722. 7

may readily be changed as required, de-

termines the angularity of the seat relative.

to the plane of the side members 20, 21, of the fulcrum. These two die members 29, 30, serve to form a seat, the lateral portions of which constitute retaining lips. The metal constituting the seat having been pressed and densified, is strong and rigid and gives the necessary rigidity to the beam of which it forms a part. There is no waste metal as all the parts of the seat cooperate, due to the peculiar shape and disposition of the metal.

In event a fulcrum is to be formed in which the brake lever lies at right angles to the beam, the die 30 is moved until it lies at an angle of 90 to the die 29. This results in the formation of the fulcrum shown in Figs. 14 and 15, in which the seat 31 is directly transverse to the side bars 32.

In the construction of Figs. 16 and 17 this same situation prevails. I have, however, shown a flat tension member 33, in stead of a round rod as in the preceding figures.

Obviously the construction and method are capable of some modification and I do not wish to be limited except as indicated in the appended claims.

I claim: a

1. The method of forming a brake beam fulcrum, consisting in providing a blank, widening a port on thereof, bending said blank at the widened portion and forming a-seat in said widened portion. p

2. The method of forming a brake beam fulcrum, consisting in providing a blank, widening a portion thereof, bending said blank at the widened portion, and drawing the widened portion in a given direction to form a seat thereon.

3. The method of forming a brake beam fulcrum, consisting in providing a blank, widening a portion thereof, bending the blank at said widened portion and spreading the widened portion of the metal to form a seat.

4. A brake beam :1 bar doubled upon itself and havinga forged saddle, the cross sectional area of the bar in its completed form being substantially constant throughout its length.

5. A brake beam fulcrum comprising a blank, a ortion of which is spread in the plane of t e blank and also in an intersecting plane to form a seat.

6. A fulcrum composed of a bar doubled upon itself and provided at its free ends fulcrum, consisting of.

with means of attachment to a beam and at CARL E. BAUER. 

